Self-feeder for hay balers



Feb. 5, 1946. w. E. SMITH SELF FEEDER FOR HAY BALE'ES Filed July 2l, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet, l

Feb. 5, 1946. w, E, SWTH f 2,394,336

I SELF FEEDER FOR HAY BIERS I Filed July 21, 1944 3 gheets-Sheet 2 ze ,e7

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\` (9,. INVENTOR.

Afro/miv W. EL SMITH SELF FEEDER FOR 'HAY BALERS Fi1ed July 21,.A 1944 s sheets-sheet 5 INVENTOR.' @K AT R/VFY BY VEL'. y'Smzith ma Een. 5, 1946.

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I -Patented Feb. 5,', 1946 This invention relates to a self feeder f or hay balers and it consists in the constructions, ar-

rangements and combinations herein described and claimed.-

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a feeder for balers which is readily attachable or detachable to or from a baler with a minimum of `eiort. l

It is also an object ofthe invention to a feeder which is constructed so as to fold intermediate the length of the conveyor portion thereof, thus enabling ready transportation of the feed. er and baler as a unit.

A still further and important object of the invention is the provision of 4an automatic and SELF-FEEDER ron y sans 1 'william' E. smite, ssen city, N. c.

Application July 21, 1944, serial No. stacca 1 claim. V (ci. 100e-2 5) I upon their upper sides with hin'ge knuckles 2| provide j manual means for stopping the feed of material Figure 3 is a cross section ontherline133 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on 'the line .d--l of Figure 1.

adapted to be interleaved and receive a pivot pintle 22.- Upon the lower sides of the brackets 20,

respective ears k211i' are formed, suitably apertured to receive a bolt 2c for maintaining the side frames i9 in extended aligned relation. It will be 4apparent from the foregoing description, that a hinge action is presented, the function of which will be explained hereinafter. l

Upon the' inner sides of the side frames 9' and I9", wooden stringers 25 are secured, extending inwardly toward the longitudinal axis of the conveyor a short distance for support of a sheet metal plate 2E.

At front and rear ends of the side frames I9' and i9" respective shafts 2l and 28:.are jour.-

nalled, each shaft having a pair of flange rollers 29 xed thereon, arranged inlongitudinal alignvment for mounting conveyor belts 3l! at eachside of the conveyor frame. The conveyor belts are connected by transverse slats 3| spaced at a suity tance to afford sliding support of hay or the like,

g5 under operation, and in order that the hay will Figure 5 is a cross section on the line 5--5 of Figure 1. I

` Figure 6is a fragmentary longitudinal section'- al view of the conveyor. i

There is illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and4, a conventional type of mobile-hay'baler l0, .to which my feeder may be attached, and as may be seen i3, the latter being reciprocated through a. crank shaft Hi drivenby a pulley i5. the latter receiving v power through a belt IS actuated from a suitable source, such as a tractor, not shown. A pulley n is fixed upon the shaft I4 outwardly of the i pulley it, and functions to provide power to the feeder mechanism now to be described;

The feeder consists essentially of a conveyor it mounted upon the baler in such manner as tol -ure 6. It will be noted that the not become entangled about the shafts 2l and 28, a looped metal plate 32 issecured at the ends of the plate 2t, the shafts passing through the respective looped portion indicated at .33 in Figl conveyor belts 30 .lie within the conveyor at a low point therewithin, and this is accomplished by mounting the shaft 21 in a downwardly extending bracket 34 mounted on the free ends of the side frames t9' of the conveyor, and in order .that the shaft 28 -be held in proper alignment, the side frames I9 are each bers il extend beyond the baler at each side, the

end removed from the conveyor being connected by a platform 98. Intermediate of the length of the members tl upright bearings 3@ are mounted. receiving the shaft @t therethrough.

From the description thus far given, it will be apparent that the conveyor it may be raised and lowered from the position shown in'Fisure 2, pivo upon the shaft it: a iurtr. it will be seen that when the bolts 24 are removed, the

. front section I 9' may be moved upwardlyy and rearwardly to overlie the section I!" and finally to a position above the baler I as shown in Figure 2. By the provision of a hinged conveyor such as described, the baler may be moved into restricted areas, which would not be possible,

if the conveyor was formed as a single rigid unit.

A pair of upright standards 40 are mounted upon one of the members 31 and braced by diagonal struts 4I. Each of the standards has a bracket 42 mounted thereon, extending at right angles to each standard, each bracket having a bearing 43 for revolubly mounting a shaft 44.

from the conveyor to the hopper H of the baler,

which necessitates a stopping of the conveyor,

outwardly of the fixed pulleyk automatically or manually, and this is accomplished as follows:

A shiftable lever 5I is pivoted upon the frame member 31 as at 52, the lever extending outwardly beneath the belt 41, and is provided with apair of upstanding pins 53, between which the belt 41 is disposed. The other end of the lever is pivotally connected to a link $4 which in turn is pivotally connected to an end of a short lever, 55, suitablymounted upon the top side of the baler.

To the other endy of the short lever 55, a pull rod .58 is connected, extending longitudinally of the baler in the direction of the compression chamber I2, where it is connected to a piv'oted lever 51. The lever 51 is fixed upon a shaft 58 rockably mounted in bearings 59 located Vupon the top of the compression chamber. A second lever 51' is also fixed to the shaft, the levers 51 and 51 constituting the manual means for shifting Y the lbelt 41 to and from the xed and free pulleys 45 and 46.

A second pull rod is operatively connected with the lever -51 and extends through a guide El. The terminal end of the rod 60 is provided with a divergent spring tongue 62 adapted to engage with the top wire of a bale of hay, as may be seen in Figure 4, the tongue being engaged a distance' forwardly of the rear end of the bale. In use, when it is desired to manually stop operation of the conveyor, either of the levers 51 or 51' may be moved in a direction to draw upon the pull rod 56 and effect -a pull upon the link 54, which in turn, will swing the shifter lever 5| lin a direction to move the belt from the ilxed pulley 45 to the loose pulley 46. lTo return the belt to operative engagement with the fixed pulley, the lever 51 or 51 is moved in the opposite direction. In view of the forward connection of the tongue 62 with the Awire of the bale, ample movement of the rod 56 is permitted.

Where an automatic stopping of the conveyoris top wire isengaged with the tongue 62 of the rod 60. In due course, the spring tongue B2 will engage therear bent portionof the bale wire and further forward movement of the wired bale will now effect a drawing action on the pull rods 60 and 56, shifting the belt 41 from the fixed pulley to the loose pulley. effecting a stopping of the conveyor. The compression plunger I3 will continue to reciprocate to compress hay and advance the wired bale until the spring tongue 62 springs upwardly-so as to release the wire with which it was engaged. To again set the conveyor in motion, it is only necessary to operate one of the levers 51 or 51' to shift the belt 41.

In order that the conveyor I8 may be supported in horizontal or angular relations with respect to the baler support legs 63 are provided, arranged upon respective sides thereof. These legs may engage the ground as shown in Figure 4 or may be swung in the direction of the baler for securement thereto. y

Where the hay or other material is fed to the conveyor i8 by means of a blower, a fender 64 is employed.

Also, it has been found desirable to provide a shield 65 above the gearing and shaftlng of the drive for the conveyor and this is suitably supported upon the upper ends of the uprights 40.

While I have shown and specifically described my invention, this is by way of illustration only,

and I consider as my own all such modifications in construction as fairly fall within the scope of the appended claim. .I claim:

In combination, a compression hay baler having a driven shaft, a pulley on said shaft, said baler having a hopper, a frame structure on said baler beside said hopper, upright bearings on said frame structure, a conveyor having a shaft journalled in said bearings for vertical swinging movement, said conveyor consisting of a receivlng section and a delivery section hingedly connected together, support means for the conveyor,

desired, during wiring oi' the foremostbale, the

drive meansfor the conveyor comprising a counter shaft, a fixed pulley and a loose pulley on said shaft aligned with the pulley of the driven shaft, a belt normally trained about the pulley of the driven shaft and said fixed pulley, a gear on said counter-shaft in mesh with a gear von the shaft of the conveyor, a shifting lever pivotally mounted on the frame structure and disposed beneath said belt, said lever having upstanding pins at opposite sides of said belt, a link connested to said shifting lever beyond the pivot thereof,l a bracket mounting on said baler, a short lever swingably mounted on said bracket and having one end connected to said last named link, a pullrod connected to the other end of said short lever, a. `manually' operatedy lever on said baler having connection with said pull rod to impart swinging movement to said shifting lever, and a second pull rod having one end connected with said manually' operated lever, said second named pull rod having a spring linger at the other end thereof adapted to be engaged beneath a. Wire of a wired bale of hay.

WILLIAM E. SMITH. 

